Protective shield for a fireman&#39;s hood



Dec. 19, 1961 J. E. KAMPERIN PROTECTIVE SHIELD FOR A FIREMAN'S noon 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 20, 1959 IN V EN TOR. Jail/V 4-. KIMPERI/V BYM; ATTORNEYS Filed Oct. 20, 1959 J. E. KAMPERIN 3,013,273

PROTECTIVE SHIELD FOR A FIRE MAN'S HOOD 2 SheetsSheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

JOHN E. A44MPER/IV BY United States Patent 1 3,013,273 PROTECTIVE SHIELDFOR A FIREMANS HOOD John E. Kamperin, Salina, Pa., assignor to George H.Stonack Filed Get. 20, 1959, Ser. No. 847,544 3 Claims. (Cl. 2-5) Thepresent invention relates to a protective shield for use with aconventional head-enclosing hood worn by fire fighting and rescuepersonnel. The invention is of particular advantage under conditions inwhich the fire extinguishing agents, such as foam type extinguishersused for putting out oil and gasoline fires, are likely to be depositedon the viewing window of the hood and deprive the wearer of effectivesight, and where rescue operations under such conditions will admit ofno delay, as in crash landings of airplanes at airports and on carners.

The conventional protective hood used in such emergencies is a headsupported unit of heat reflecting and insulating material and providedwith a fixed transparent viewing member or window, which is curvedtransversely, so as to be outwardly convex, to afford a wide angle ofview. Personnel using this type of hood in the vicinity of foam-typefire extinguishing agents ejected from hoses frequently find their viewis completely obstructed by foam deposits on the outside of the viewingwindow. This is particularly true of persons engaged in rescue work, whomust dash through a smother of foam to reach the occupants of a burningplane. The foam deposits are not easily wiped off, especially when oneshands and arms are also covered with foam.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide a protectiveshield that will protect the viewing window or opening of the hood underthe foregoing or similar conditions and will permit the wearer to obtaina clear view through such opening instantly when needed.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a protectiveshield that can be conveniently attached to a conventional protectivehood, that will be easy and inexpensive to manufacture, and that will bereliable in operation.

Additional objects will be apparent from the following description ofthe invention in connection with the attached drawings, in which FIG. 1is a side elevation of a conventional fire fighting hood, with theprotective shield of this invention mounted in operative positionthereon;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the hood and shield of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section along the line IIIIII of FIG. 1, with theprotective shield raised to its nonoperative position;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal section along the line IVIV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal section along the line VV of FIG. 2, showing thepivoted mounting of the protective shield on the hood; and

FIG. 6 is a horizontal section along the line VI-VI of FIG. 4, showingthe latch for holding the protective shield.

In accordance with this invention, the protective shield is designed tobe used with a head-enclosing hood having a transversely curvedtransparent viewing member, the curve. being convex outward. The shieldincludes a second transparent viewing member and means for hingedlysupporting it so as to be swingable from a first position spaced infront of the hood viewing member to a second position upward and awayfrom said member, and closure means between the top of the shield andthe hood to prevent ingress of foreign material over the top of theshield.

3,013,273 Patented Dec. 19, 1961 Referring to the drawings, aconventional protective hood 1 is provided with a head-support helmet 2and a more or less rigid mask or frame 3 attached to the sides of thehelmet. The front of the frame 3 is transversely curved with its convexside facing outwardly and provided with an opening 4 of rectangularshape (as projected on a vertical plane). This opening is covered with atransparent viewing member or window 5, usually of plastic. A fireprooffabric 6 is draped over and attached to the helmet and frame, forming ashroud. The latter is generally provided with a reflective coating onthe outside and is adapted to cover the entire head, neck, and shouldersof the wearer, except in front of the viewing window.

The present invention is designed to be attached to the aboveconventional hood, or to a hood of similar type. The protective shield,generally indicated by the numeral 7, includes a transparent viewingmember 8 that is preferably curved to conform to the curvature of thewindow 5 and the sides of the hood. The viewing member 8 is preferablymade of plasticand may be provided with reinforcing elements 9 ofsuitable material around its outer edge. This viewing member 8 is'hingedly mounted on frame 3 of the hood but is desirably spacedtherefrom, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The specific mounting shown inFIG. 5 includes a bolt 10 extending between the frame 3 and the shieldand retained by a nut 10a. The shield is spaced from the hood by a coilspring 11 around the bolt and by washers 12. There is one of thesepivotal supports on each side of the hood, so that the protective shieldcan be disposed in a first position directly in front of the opening inthe hood and can be swung to a second position (shown in FIG. 3), whereit is raised upwardly and away from the front of the hood.

To close the curved space between the top edge 13 of the shield and theupper edge 14 of the opening in the hood, there is provided a closuremember 15, which may be of the same type of fabric as that used for theshroud of the hood. The lower front edge 16 of this fabric is secured tothe upper edge 13 of the shield in any suitable manner. The upper backedge 17 of the fabric is preferably bound around an elastic band orspring 18, the ends 19 of which are twisted around the bolts 10 (seeFIG. 5), which support the shield on the hood. Because of the tension ofspring 19, the back edge of the closure member is drawn tightly againstthe top of the hood, regardless of whether the shield is in its loweredor raised position, and effectively seals the space between the top ofthe shield and the front of the hood.

A latch 20 is provided primarily for holding the shield in its raisedposition. This latch may take a variety of forms, one of which is shownin FIG. 6. It includes a short tube 21 attached to the frame on eachside of the hood and provided with a spring urged button 22. When theshield is in its closed position (see FIG. 4), the buttons are depressedby the shield within their tubes. When the shield is manually raised tothe position shown in FIG. 3, the buttons are released and protrudebeyond the edges of the shield to keep it from falling down. The shieldis sufliciently flexible to permit its outer edges to be forced apartenough to project beyond the extended buttons for lowering the shieldinto its protective position. A flange 23 at the base of the buttoncooperates with an inwardly turned flange 24 at the end of the tube tolimit outward movement of the button.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained theprinciple of my invention and have illustrated and described what I nowconsider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have itunderstood that, within the scope of the appended claims,

the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specificallyillustrated and described.

I claim:

1. A protective hood comprising a head-supported member, a rigidfacepiece mounted on the head-supported member and curved transverselywith its convex side facing forwardly and having a generally rectangularfacial opening therein, a transversely curved transparent viewing windowmounted in said opening, a shroud of flexible protective materialsecured to the edges of the facepiece and overlying the head-supportedmember and adapted to envelop completely at least the head and neck ofthe wearer, a transparent viewing member of generally rectangular shapecurved transversely to conform to the curvature of the facepiece and theviewing window, means for hingedly supporting the viewing member onopposite sides of the head-supported member behind the viewing windowfor supporting the viewing member to be swingable from a first positiondirectly in front of the viewing window to a second position upwardlyand away from that window, and a closure member of flexible materialsecured to the top edge of the viewing member in continuous sealingengagement therewith and having a rear portion adapted to fit incontinuous sealing engagement with the shroud.

2. A protective shield for use with a head-enclosing firemans hoodhaving a transversely and outwardly convex transparent front and sideviewing window, said shield comprising a transparent viewing membercurved transversely to conform generally to the curvature of the hoodviewing window, mounting means secured to the sides of the viewingmember at points adjacent the upper rear corners thereof and adapted tobe connected to opposite sides of the hood for supporting the viewingmember on the hood to be swingable from a first position directly infront of and spaced from the hood viewing window to a second positionupwardly and away from that window,

and a closure member of flexible material secured to the top edge of theviewing member in continuous sealing engagement therewith and having arear edge adapted to fit in sealing engagement with the top of the hood.

3. A protective shield for use with a head-enclosing firemans hoodhaving a transversely and outwardly convex front and side viewing windowin the form of a semicylindrical transparent sheet, said shieldcomprising, in combination with said hood, a transparent viewing membercurved to conform generally to the curvature of the hood viewing windowand extending rearwardly at least as far as that window, pivot meansconnecting opposite sides of the viewing member at points adjacent theupper rear corners thereof to corresponding opposite sides of the hoodbehind the viewing window for pivotally supporting the viewing member onthe hood to be swingable from a first position directly in front of andspaced from the hood viewing window to a second position upwardly andaway from that window, a closure member of flexible material secured tothe top edge of the viewing member in continuous sealing engagementtherewith and having a rear edge in sealing engagement with the top ofthe hood, and releasable means for holding the viewing member in itsraised second position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS968,232 Bentz Aug. 23, 1910 2,354,50 Cockrill et a1. July 25, 19442,485,117 Settle Oct. 18, 1949 2,517,600 Ruhl .d Aug. 8, 1950 2,759,187Woodard Aug. 21, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 273,040 Germany Apr. 16, 1914

